WickedWhims is likely one of the hottest mods for The Sims 4. Led by modder Turbodriver, the fan creation, which provides totally animated and interactive intercourse, expanded relationships, and even a menstrual cycle and contraception on your Sims, has over 16,000 paid supporters on Patreon. Based on a latest interview, the precise variety of individuals utilizing the mod is way greater than that.
As famous by PC Gamer, German information website Taz revealed an interview with Turbodriver (who makes use of his pen identify for anonymity) this week. By way of Google Translate, when requested how many individuals use WickedWhims, the modder stated that his server is pinged a mean of 400,000 occasions per day. For context, the pings happen at any time when somebody begins the sport with the mod put in.
It’s essential to notice that, based on writer EA, The Sims 4 has accrued greater than 80 million gamers worldwide, a statistic it shared with Selection throughout an interview in September 2024. In fact, not all 80 million boot up the sport each day, and the typical 400,000 pings can embody repeated classes by the identical individual. Nonetheless, the mod’s widespread utilization supplies a useful and curious perception into how many individuals are considering amplifying the sexual content material out there within the sport.
Because it stands, the (figuratively and metaphorically) vanilla model of The Sims 4 contains choices to customise sexual orientation round “males” or “ladies,” romance dynamics and bounds, and attraction turn-ons and turn-offs. In the case of intimacy, nonetheless, the act of intercourse itself isn’t proven, typically obscured by bathe steam or mattress blankets.
Mods like WickedWhims break that barrier with painstaking readability, whereas amplifying each visible and simulation choices. Sims could be totally managed throughout intercourse—together with over 10,000 animations from varied creators, based on the positioning—bare our bodies can present pubic hair and sweat, and fantasies corresponding to voyeurism are added into the combo.
However as Turbodriver instructed Taz, anybody enjoying a life simulation needs it to be “as practical as attainable.” That’s why WickedWhims additionally contains mechanics round a sexually transmitted illness, menstruation cycles, and contraception, amongst different issues. The modder doesn’t intend for WickedWhims to be academic, and considers it a aspect impact.
“Probably the most complicated factor is that Sims have totally different fertility ranges relying on after they’re of their cycle,” he stated, through Google Translate. “In fact, as a person, I had to do a little analysis after I programmed that a part of the mod.”
Whereas Turbodriver doesn’t take into account himself a feminist activist, he remarked that the mod is a product of his “political convictions,” and that feminist views additionally affect his work, albeit not completely. Furthermore, the modder argued that sport builders have gotten extra open to express content material, citing Cyberpunk 2077 as a title that options nudity, however that there’s nonetheless a double commonplace within the trade on the subject of sexual content material.
“Massive sport builders can embody intercourse scenes of their video games with none repercussions,” Turbodriver stated. “Indie video games, however, are penalized way more shortly by the platforms, which label them as grownup video games and present them to fewer individuals.”
Whereas the variety of WickedWhims classes is certainly noteworthy, it’s essential to recollect the context during which this exercise is happening. For one, as Turbodriver identified, the web is turning into more and more centralized on fewer platforms that prohibit sexual content material of any form.
The context surrounding The Sims 4, too, is essential to think about. Developer Maxis just lately shared a weblog put up saying that it stays dedicated to its values, one among which is inclusivity, and that “The Sims staff’s artistic management has not modified.” This is available in response to issues from the neighborhood across the Saudi Arabia Public Funding Fund’s intentions to change into the main proprietor of EA, because it marches to safe a deal to purchase 93.4 p.c of shares in a $55 billion deal.
Whereas the deal is pending authorities approval, the Public Funding Fund is nearly completely owned by a state identified for persecuting and killing queer individuals and denying ladies many fundamental rights, amongst different causes for concern. It’s unclear if Maxis will have the ability to preserve its values if the deal comes into fruition sooner or later, but it surely’s clear that gamers have an curiosity in mods like WickedWhims which give types of expression and expertise that transcend the boundaries of what’s provided within the vanilla sport.
